Dagger: Chapter Two

Chapter 2

Seventeen years later, the small baby girl found in the ancient temple sepulcher of Malikir had grown up to be a very beautiful creature. With short dark curly wavy locks of the gushing waterfalls, with golden brown skin and wide animals eyes of amber yellow begotten after finishing her Trials of Blood, Cameron and Odlanyar named her Ariam.

            Ariam was a soaring and lissome adolescent girl, with a narrow sharp face and adorably thin and tiny nose. Her legs were long and strong, her arms were toned to the curved, and her body was a lean mean fighting machine. She was not made of glass, but instead her body was that equivalent to a stone castle with moat around it, and inside the moat laid hidden monsters that would shred out a man’s face into half.

            This tale began as Ariam and Obadiah had gotten a contract to deal with an ancient cursed relic the people of mining village, Kexhill had just dug out in one of their caves.

This was her first mission, for she had just finished her Trials of Blood. The Trials of Blood were customary Dagger rituals, and it comprised the whole stages to be a Dagger. First comes The Training, where Dagger apprentices, usually start out when they are young, were taught how to master swordsmanship, study in the supernatural lore, and also extensive training in alchemy. And then next came The Harrowing, where they have to kill their first monster using all the utensils prepared by themselves and prove that they are skilled enough to be in the field. And once The Harrowing is completed, comes the demanding trials of them all, The Drink. The Drink was an exceedingly agonizing pain to the brim ritual in which Dagger apprentices were subjugated to drink the magical creature’s blood they had slew in The Harrowing. Not many can endure this part of the trials, and those who do survive gained lightning quick reflexes, and also the great speed and strength of five men. Thus, this was the reason why there were not so many Daggers. Taking in magical blood was comparable to taking in deadly poison, but unlike poison, if the body can withstand the blood it enhances the body’s potential.

            In order to get to Kexhill, Ariam and her senior Dagger, Obadiah hopped in and joined as a temporary crew member to the renowned pirate ship, the Grateful Dead.

Obadiah was a middle aged man, who had ivory pale skin, ginger hair, and a hooked nose, and in all his life, Obadiah never cared much about advancement in rank. He was the type of person to love the position he was in. He would rather travel out, and train young apprentices than get settled down and be a Grandmaster Dagger. He cared little for gold or glory, things like that meant billow to him. He was also quite reasonably suspicious to a lot of things, other than that he was good friends with Odlanyar the Undying and thus the reason for him being Ariam’s senior and mentor.

            Obadiah was not very keen with the captain of the Grateful Dead, the Dreaded Pirate Bernard, who looked like he had just gone through puberty. And it was not because of Captain Bernard’s profession that Obadiah wasn’t fond of, but because Captain Bernard was a very cocky and obnoxious young man. Obadiah only hired Captain Bernard because Odlanyar highly recommended it. “How can you be the Dread Pirate Bernard, you’re but a boy,” Obadiah said the first time he met the captain. “How old are you?”

            “I just turned nineteen, good sir, Dagger sir,” Bernard said back, he was only two years older than Ariam.

            “I heard the Dreaded Pirate Bernard was a woman, and was middle aged,” Obadiah queried the young man for Odlanyar had told him how the pirate captain would look like, and to contradict the description given, Dreaded Pirate Bernard did not at all match up to Odlanyar’s depiction.

            “Well, yes about that. I felt like being a woman was too difficult, and so I turned to a man because you know, being a pirate is much more swell if you’re a man. People take me more seriously with this gender. And me being young, good sir, Dagger sir, is simply because I hate being old. I really do.”

            And to proof he was the pirate he said he was, he showed Obadiah the renowned and wanted pirate ship, the Grateful Dead and its deadly cutthroat crew members. And soon after, the young pirate captain successfully half convinced Obadiah to hire him and his crew member to sail on the river of Basirigi to get to Kexhill. The Basarigi River was one of the longest and largest rivers in the province of Krajinyr that stretches in to the east.

            The ship stank of fish mixed with unhygienic men. Obadiah and Ariam could have ridden to Kexhill, but sailing there would be much faster. How Odlanyar endured this horrid smell when he was younger surely lived up to his title as the Unyieding one.

Everyone in the vessel looked at Ariam, the only female on board with lust, but considering her armor and eyes, they knew she was a Dagger and that meant she was not to be trifled with. Aside from that, if any of them were to trouble Ariam in any way, Obadiah would make sure they received the proper punishment they clearly deserved. But there was no need for that because Ariam could take these men on easily.

            The Grateful Dead. It was grateful just to be alive, Ariam thought.

            The ship was old, almost a hundred and fifty years old to be exact, every inch of it was built for action. Originally a naval war vessel before its pirate days, the ship had sails as black as the dark horse of Apocalypse, and the hull was painted dim to match. Myths spiraled that this pirate ship could out sail any sailing vessels out there, none to compare, and it can endure any storms or cannonball attacks. Contrary to what Odlanyar had informed to Obadiah about the ship and its captain, the first to actually command this pirate vessel was a commander of the sea named Herbert Jayne.

For the reason that Commander Herbert was wise and enlightened, he did not want his ship, and his crew members to be involved in the Human and Elven War for he thought it was just a bunch of bunkum, and thus he declined the offer to help out the Empire when they requested. His official reasons to defy the Empire were as such, “You think the only people that matters are the people who look and think like you, I call that super nonsensically incorrect and downright daft. I hope you reevaluate your life goals, stop reproducing, and I wish when death strikes upon you, it is quick and painless because I am not the type of person to aspire idiots a painful death. I may have been born as a beggar’s child, but I choose not to be a savage. Have a good day, and an unsuccessful war.”

Soon after, sea marshals were then ordered by the Empire to sink the Grateful Dead at all cost, and branded her captain and crew members as pirates. And ever since then, Herbert Jayne changed his name to Bernard Unto after his favorite musical composer, Bernard Herrmann. With a new name and new outlook towards authority, Bernard became one of the biggest threats on the seas. He used his ship, the Grateful Dead and her crew to embark on many illegal activities and deadly adventures. One of the most popular exploits he did was saving one hundred and sixteen elven innocents that the humans had held captive from the war and he not only freed them, but brought them back to their homes when the war was over with his own ship. He managed to sail back and forth, for two weeks consecutively without being spotted by Empire naval ships.

            Alas, Bernard was just a man, and so after he died, he named his first mate captain of the ship. With much respect to his captain, the first mate changed his named to Bernard Unto. And so the legend continued. Subsequently after that, many had taken the name Bernard Unto and the position as captain of the Grateful Dead, from men to women, and children to elderly. Why, an elf was once Bernard Unto, and so was a runaway prostitute. Strangely even, the title was once stolen, gambled off, and even sold off. Thus was the reason why the captain of the Grateful Dead was baptized the title, the Dreaded Pirate Bernard. A pirate greatly feared for his or her immortality. However, only a few really know this tale. So, please keep it hushed.

             Afternoon drew in as they were finally approaching the mining village. The current flowing east to Kexhill was smooth and consistent, it marked no trouble.

Ariam who was standing on the deck being wooed by the playful Captain Bernard sighed listlessly. “You know, sweet-face I once beat ten men. Blindfolded and half sober, mind you.” How much longer must she endure this man’s boasting? But then suddenly, she gave out an expressive cry of concern. “Obadiah, look! The whole town is on fire!” The embers layered the roofs of Kexhill could be seen afar, whoever or whatever caused it didn’t know the Grateful Dead was abound. Obadiah came rushing out of the cabin once he heard Ariam’s heed.

            Captain Bernard who at first thought it was just Ariam’s attempt to shut him up turned to remarked the danger was real, and quickly instructed his crew to slow down the ship by slacking the mainsheet all the way and also cast off the headsail sheets absolutely, dumping the wind that gush the ship forward. Once the vessel was slowed down, they set ashore.

            The cursed relic they were sent to deal with must be really important to someone to have done this cruelty towards innocent lives, Obadiah established. Needless to say, this mission just got a whole new level of seriousness and urgency for now the Daggers must find and secure the ancient relic, help out any survivors, also find out who attacked the village, and if possible neutralize them.

            As soon as they hit the coast, Obadiah and Ariam got off the pirate ship remarkably with no help, following them was Captain Bernard. “What do you think you are doing?” said Obadiah to the self-assured young pirate captain.

            “I’m going to help you Daggers out. That is what I am doing,” Bernard said confidently, trying to impress Ariam who he had found her to be very, not subtly, attractive and interesting. So, he tried his best to amaze her in any way conceivable to make her like him back. This of course, was not the first time Bernard jeopardized his own life for a lady’s attention.

This current and prevailing Captain Bernard Unto was very charming and had him a prevalent face that could break hearts, or so he thought. His most prolific trait was that he could convince people he tastes like cider, when he smells like rotten fish and bad ale. He was tall and agile with the proficiency that only youth can yoke. He had him a set of dirty long blonde hair that he pushes back often, and it somehow always gets wet. And his eyes were jet green, it breathed out desolate lies and deceit, while beseeching naïve girls to give in.

And his eyes rarely had seen female Daggers, especially a beautiful one like Ariam. The reason why there were a lacking number of female Daggers was because by consuming the blood of the supernatural, they becomes sterile. Daggers can’t reproduce. They can’t have children of their own. “Believe me, I can be very useful,” he added. He can be very annoying, that’s what he was, thought Ariam.

            For a second time, Bernard has lucratively convinced Obadiah.

            And so a party of three head to the village, but before they advanced, Obadiah prepped Ariam like a child. Where is your sword? Where are your potions? Do you remember how to use your hexes? It was unrequired to say very embarrassing for her, and Bernard was giggled away with full pleasure. The intention why Obadiah was very guarded when it comes Ariam was not to humiliate her, but because Odlanyar and Cameron thought Ariam as their own child. Considering Obadiah was very close with the both of them, it was obvious he would not want anything bad happen to his friends’ child.

            They progressed on after all was done. The group followed the path that led to Kexhill over the knoll, and as they arrived near the edge of the village, unbeknownst to them, eleven fouled humans come charging them like creatures without a sound mind. “What are those things?” said Bernard, for the humans looked no longer humans. They were hairless and horrifyingly stained by some sort of dark magic or disease. “Whatever it is, prepare yourself,” Ariam made a really cliché remark. These creatures weren’t difficult to kill off. Ariam with her great nimbleness, jump over the monsters and sliced their heads clean off. Obadiah, who was unlike most Daggers, did not use the standard silver retractable Dagger sword, his weapon of choice was this large silver double edged axe to correspond with his stocky muscular build, and with just two strong swings, he divided in half four of the attacking tainted humans. The reason why Daggers used silver was because it was much more effective against supernatural monsters, and it just so turned out these tainted humans were supernatural. Surprisingly Benard doesn’t just talk the talk, but walk the walk. With his sword he took out two of the ugly things at once with his prodigious fencing skills, consequently proving Obadiah and Ariam his usefulness.

            Once they have slew the tainted humans, Obadiah analyzed their bodies to try and comprehend what happened to them. “I have seen this happen before, these are the tainted,” he said out loud. “This happen before many years ago, but it’s impossible. He is dead. We buried him.”

            “What is it? What happened to them? Good sir, good old Dagger sir,” pried Bernard.

            “Yes, what are you talking about, Obadiah?” Ariam asked as well, being confused as to what was going on.

            “Nothing,” he said, brushing aside his theory. “Let’s move on.” This theory of his was that Camley the Undying Black Owl, a man he once respected came back to life. Obadiah once fought these creatures before when Camley first released his dark magic, inflicting many to turn into tainted beings. He thought only Camley can do something like this.

            They advanced on through the path leading to Kexhill precariously and fought another group of the tainted beings, it seemed almost all of the villagers were either dead or had turned into monsters.

            Eventually as they were nearing the village, came running out of the burning houses was a female beings chased by more of the tainted humans. As she ran towards the group, she turned back for a quick hesitancy and lashed out lightning bolts out of her staff. It zapped some of the creatures back, but they were more than she could handle came running.

            Without any commands given and knowing exactly what to do, Ariam and the rest of the group charged towards the creatures that was chasing the elf , helping her defeat her chasers. Ariam showcased her hex powers. She was very good at casting repelling hexes rather than stun and explosion. She touched the body of the creatures, and casting a repelling hex, the bodies go flying back like bunch of ragdolls. Once the group had crushed the tainted beings, they went on speaking with the elf, who obviously was a mage.

What was a mage doing here all alone, without a Seeker nonetheless? Mages were supposed to be surveyed or even trapped in a Seeker’s presence or their prison cells, surely even mage elves were subjugated to this law since they lost the war, Bernard assumed.

The young elf was dainty and petite in size, almost like a frail dandelion, with light pastel skin, long chute shady brown hair and eyes too big for her head. She didn’t look afraid with the environment, as if she wanted to be here or knew something, which Obadiah saw the minute he saw her.

Obadiah with his suspicious mind found her not to be trusting, no Seeker, all alone, and not wearing a standard Seeker robes like a normal mage, Obadiah though she dressed like a dissenter with those dark leather glad rags. Her staff was also dark, long wooden stick with magic glass ball held in animal talons at its end. And maybe she was a dissenter, he concluded.

 The elf heaved heavy exhales as the group stood in front of her, her hands on her knees, and Bernard couldn’t stop thinking how much would the Seekers pay him if he hand them a dissenter. “Thanks for your help, if none of you had come, I don’t think I might have made it,” she expressed her gratitude as she sighed. “My name is Raewyn Treewind,” she went on introducing herself.

“Where’s your Seeker?” Obadiah asked.

She points at one of the tainted beings they had killed in the endeavor to save her, they didn’t realize it before because of the tainted being’s ugly mug and the adrenaline rush of battle, but it was covered neck to feet with the white Seeker armor, “That’s my Seeker,” she said, and devoid of holding back she explained what she was doing in a place like this, “My Seeker and I came here because we heard an ancient relic was found, and we were assigned to retrieve it. When we got here, everything was fine, and then all of a sudden, a band of free elves led by a Dagger, just like the both of you, riding a black wolf raided the whole town. He unleashed some sort of dark magic, corrupting people to become tainted beings. My Seeker and I have been fighting ever since, but we got ambushed when we tried to save some of the survivors and then he got inflicted by the disease. I had to run away, I can’t fight all of them alone.”

There was truth in her voice, Obadiah had no choice but to believe the story she given to them.

“You tried your best,” Ariam comforted.

A Dagger riding a black wolf, and unleashing dark magic that can cause people to turn into monsters, all these hints led up to the idea of Camley’s return, Obadiah supposed. And if it is who he thought it was, this was bad news for everyone. But why now, after seventeen years and how was it even possible. The relic must be important, that was for sure, and dangerous.

“Where is this Dagger now?” he asked. Ariam and Bernard were confused, utterly. She couldn’t quite make up for what was happening.

“Last I saw him, he was in the village turning some of the locals to tainted beings,” replied the elf. “He might still be there, but I don’t think there are any survivors left.”

“Alright, we’ll move onwards,” said Obadiah.

“And I’ll join,” the elf girl insisted. “I want to avenge my Seeker.” She looked stern and headstrong. Obadiah knew this mission wasn’t going to be easy, and thought best of him to let the mage join the party. Her magic spells could prove useful than Bernard’s yapping.

The sun was replaced with skies twisted of bloodshot dark, as if a murky existence was buried behind the clouds. Thunder thumps jarred dins of unspoken evil. This sinisterly phenomenon was especially explicit above Kexhill, almost shadowing the entire mining village. The only luminous light available for the group to see through the darkness was the fires of the burning houses and barns. Few minutes ago, before they entered the village there had been supple light for it was only the afternoon, but it seemed the village was consumed utterly by chaos and maliciousness, dead bodies and charred remains were lying all over the place. The bodies scattered didn’t seem like human anymore, just dead flesh. All these gave out signs to not go any further, and yet here they are, advancing on like no tomorrow.

             As they were reaching the village’s center, they discovered another form of the tainted beings. These things were uglier than the average ones, they had large enormous bubble bodies, some had bubble guts, and some had bubble heads that were just in ticks of bursting. Ariam and Bernard upon seeing them, thought the way they looked had no function whatsoever than to look utterly ugly, so they charged up to them, but before the both of them could get any closer, Raewyn blast a chain of lightning bolts out from her staff and these bubble tainted ones exploded like bombs, knocking Bernard off his feet, while Ariam was able to swiftly jumped back thanks to her Dagger capabilities. She did however, was able to catch Bernard before he hit his head on the ground.

            “Bursters,” Raewyn named them. “They burst. You need to keep your distance when facing them.” It seemed Raewyn was very essential at this point in the whole group, because her main attacks were ranged.

            These ‘bursters’ couldn’t tolerate heavy attacks. Even touching them could cause them to detonate in a disgusting gut fleshing discharge.

            As the group finally reached the village’s center, they shrouded behind a crumbled wall of a house to spot the Dagger Raewyn was talking about, and standing next by this Dagger’s side was Varnyrs, the dire wolf once belonged to Camley and a paramilitary of free elves, elves who lived in the harsh forest for they did not want to be under the Empire’s rule. To Obadiah’s exult, the Dagger was not Camley, but instead a southerner by the tone of his skin. He considered the Dagger carefully, and remarked it was none other than Sajib, one of the Daggers of Kina Pasir who had helped Cameron and Odlanyar in their hunt of the Undying Black Owl.

            How could Sajib do such dark magic and even so why was he doing it, Obadiah thought it out through and through, but could not find a solid answer to his questions. But the man who was Sajib, did not look like his usual self, for the right half of his body was scorched in dark shadowy aura that was flaring, the left side of his face were still intact, the other were charred, and his right arm and leg were corrupted, it was immensely brawny and infernal looking. Indeed this was not Sajib, this was a demon.

            “Come out,” Sajib said, and even his voice was not his own. It was deep and unearthly, most of all it was corrupting and cold. “There is no point in hiding,” the bizarre voice went on.

            The four of them, Ariam, Obadiah, Bernard, and Raewyn presented themselves, coming out of their hiding spot armed and well prepared for a fight. Sajib smiled and chuckled at the sight of Ariam, and the elves behind him targeted their arrows at the gang. “You made it, now the plan will proceed.” Sajib was carrying a glowing thin square shaped rock, which must have been the cursed ancient relic.

            “Why are you doing this?” Obadiah demanded, and all of them knew it was only a matter of time before a battle would spur. “What is the reason for this blight? By the Gods, aren’t you a Dagger? Why the hell are you doing this?”

            “Humanity,” Sajib bellowed with that unearthly voice of his. “It needs to be eradicated. The plan will continue.”

            What was this? Certainly this was madness.

            Obadiah had heard the same thing from Camley before, about how humanity should cease to exist. And now this madness had struck to another Dagger. And just like Camley, this was dangerous, and needed to be taken down immediately.

            Sajib dropped the relic to the ground, and then he instructed the elves, who bizarrely helped him to attack the gang. Sajib attacked too, he lashed out a dark spectral energy out from his corrupted arm, and the elves released massive number of arrows, flung at the gang’s direction, and in a quick moment of thinking, Raewyn slammed her staff on the ground and formed a lightning barrier that deflected all the incoming arrows, even Sajib’s projectile. None of them got hurt thanks to the elf mage. When the arrows were no more, Raewyn took down her barrier, and the whole gang charged forward, but Sajib, Varnyrs and some elves were no longer there as he opened a portal above them, sucking them elsewhere, some place where Ariam and the rest of the gang couldn’t catch him. However, the ones left were a few handfuls of the free elven warriors, and apparently Sajib just left the ancient relic as if he wanted the gang to have it.

            The gang fought the remaining elven warriors, who seemed ardent to die, knowing they could not best the gang. They didn’t even let out a proper good fight or protect the ancient relic, as if they want the gang to secure the damn thing. Obadiah sliced their arms right off, Ariam stabbed her sword right through their necks, jumping back and forth to avoid their attacks, Raewyn whose specialty was releasing lightning auras cast lightning bolts that shocked them to death, while Bernard showcased his great fencing skills.

            Once the battle was over, Bernard who was very curious approached the ancient relic first, and as he got close, Raewyn almost like she knew what was going to happen, yelled out, “No! Stay back! Don’t get close to it! You’ll die.” But it was too late the energy force of the relic pulled him, Ariam without a thought, pushed Bernard away. As Bernard was saved from the relic’s pull, Ariam was dragged by the force instead.

            The relic found itself afloat above ground, dragging Ariam as well leaving her helpless. She couldn’t move her limbs, it was as if heaven’s grace pulled her up to paradise, but this was something else, something darker and infernal. From up close the relic looked like a map.

            Obadiah chased after her, but knowing what was going to happen, Raewyn casted a barrier spell around all of them, except for Ariam who was detached off the ground. Obviously Obadiah was angry at Raewyn, “Release this spell, I need to save her!” he demanded.

            But Raewyn defied his plead, and let Ariam who was suffering in tremendous amount of pain have her moment with the relic. She was twitching irrepressibly, and her eyes were forcibly opened by the relic’s aura, bluish green light entered her eyes, and all everyone could do was watch.

            Ariam was violently forced down information of locations and even, dark visions of the future into that head of hers before the relic finally imploded on its own, whacking Ariam back to the ground falling on her back. She was unconscious not because of the fall, but because of what the relic did to her, her nose was bleeding, and for a moment her amber eyes turned clear glass white, soulless.

            After the explosion, Raewyn deemed it was safe and released her barrier, Obadiah in a fret of fear and worry ran to the young Dagger.

            She was still alive and breathing. Thank the Gods, of course she was alive, if she was dead there would be no tale to tell. Obadiah carried her, and they all ran back to the Grateful Dead with great hurry, along with a new companion, Raewyn Treewind the elf mage to tender Ariam’s injuries.